'Doesn't Sonia have any shame?'

The Jharkhand episode has infuriated Janata Dal [United] president and National Democratic Alliance convenor George Fernandes so much that he does not even want to utter Congress president Sonia Gandhi's name.

Fernandes told rediff.com on Thursday, "I am very, very, angry." He is at loss of words to express his disgust at her.

A man who has spent his life fighting the Nehru-Gandhi family's hold over the Congress and Indian politics expressed his concerns over the developments in Jharkhand.

He attacked senior Congress leaders Ajit Jogi and Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, who were sent to Ranchi by Sonia to manage the formation of the United Progressive Alliance government led by Shibu Soren of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.

He said: "Don't these Congressmen have any shame? Do they want to run Indian democracy like this?

When his attention was drawn to the statement released by Ambika Soni that Sonia Gandhi has expressed her displeasure over the governor's haste in inviting Soren, Fernandes said, "This is one more lie in a series of lies from Sonia."

He said that Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Bharatiya Janata Party president Lal Kishenchand Advani telephoned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Shivraj Patil to alert them about the possible action of the Jharkhand governor.

"How is it possible that Sonia Gandhi was not aware of the situation? Will any governor appointed by the United Progressive Alliance ever attempt to do such thing without the permission of the president of the Congress?"

Fernandes said: "In the last 50 years, I have never experienced a situation like this. I have never joined any delegation to parade MLAs before the president."

He said the Congress is anti-democratic and Sonia Gandhi's endeavor is to crush democratic forces in India. The Congress government should be removed as soon as possible, he said.

Asked about the Left's unwavering support to the Congress, Fernandes said, "The Leftists will learn a few lessons the hard way when they will face election in West Bengal. Then the Congress will play dirty with them. Sonia Gandhi is fit to teach hard lessons to the Leftists."

On the NDA leaders' meeting with the President, Fernandes said, "The President expressed his concern about the security of MLAs. We also told him not to clear the appointment of an Anglo-Indian legislator in the Jharkhand assembly till the trust vote is taken up in the assembly."